“You too.”
Kyle began his walk down the street toward the large, open patio area where people were eating and drinking out in front of the nightclub. For the first time, the weight of the situation began to dawn on him. Here he was, alone, in Paris, the first line of defense against the terrorists trying to kidnap the President’s daughter.
Terrorists trying to kidnap the President’s daughter.
He stopped for a moment and took a deep breath. It didn’t come easy. He felt he was way out of his league. He was happy to have Sarah and Zhanna with him, but they weren’t really with him. Intel from Marv made it seem like the enemy was already here watching, and here Kyle doesn’t even have a gun. All he was armed with was his charm. How the hell was that supposed to save him once they converged on him, even if he was lucky enough to convince Adeline Williams that she and her friend should leave with him. Highly unlikely. Maybe at the end of the night, after a few drinks and quite a few dances. But that would be too long. He had to think of something and he had to do it fast. But what? Sure, he had convinced women as gorgeous as Adeline to do a lot of crazy things, but not in a strange country, without a wingman, and without a place to take her to.
“Kyle, you’re fine.” Sarah’s voice came in through his earpiece. “You look great, and I could tell by the conversation in the car that you are going to know exactly what to say.”
Kyle took a deep breath. “Thanks, Sarah.” It was exactly what he needed in that moment.
“Go get ‘em. We won’t be far. I’ll be listening and we’ll be right here around you if you need us.”
Kyle felt his confidence returning to him. “I’ll be fine. Just make sure you find out what else they’re planning.”
“Got it.”
Kyle smiled. “Hey, Sarah? You ever see the movie Four Christmases. The one with Vince Vaughn?”
Sarah hesitated, not so sure where this was headed. Then she figured it out. “Uh, yeah . . . You want a safeword, don’t you?”
“Ha-ha, yes. Yes I do.”
Sarah laughed. “I don’t think mistletoe will work in the middle of the summer.”
Kyle smiled and began to walk onto the crowded patio full of young partiers. “Yeah, I was thinking . . . menage a trois.”
“You’re incorrigible.”
“You love it.”
Sarah ignored him. Kyle walked onto the plaza, adjusted his shirt, and did a quick scan. Out front there were a smattering of four-top tables, all full. A DJ stage at the back at the back of the plaza was situated by the large, bright-green, tunnel-like awning at the entrance to the club. Between the tables and the DJ stand encased by a long bar on either side was a crowd of dancers. As he walked to his left, around the tables and toward one of the bars, he had to fight his instinct to search the crowd for women he would want to take home with him. It wasn’t easy to break a ten-year habit in only ten minutes.
What would Xander be looking for?
Kyle closed his eyes to clear his mind, and when he opened them, he saw the crowd in a completely different way. Almost everyone in the crowd was younger than he was. Twenty-nine wasn’t old, but it was for this type of place. A young crowd was always a good thing in Kyle’s mind, but especially good right now, because he figured if there were some of Khatib’s men here, they would have to be older. Or at least the same age as Kyle. This would make them much easier to spot. There was always that crowd of drinkers who were just holding on too long, the sad ones who thought it was still cool for them to be in this type of environment. He would have to overlook them, but he figured that would be easy. The men who would be working for Khatib would be hard men. Killers. And usually that is a thing you wear on your face, whether you want to or not.
At the same time he was looking for possible enemies, he had to keep an eye out for Adeline—which was much more in his wheelhouse. But the first thing he needed to do was get a drink. It was like a weapon in a crowd like this. Without one, it was hard to feel confident in that intersexual battle. The line wasn’t long, so he propped himself up against the bar and ordered a Vodka Red Bull.
After a moment, his drink arrived and he took a sip. It immediately made him think of Xander and all the times he and his friend had cheers’d these drinks and tore through bars together. The first sip went down cold, and it made him think of what Xander and Sam were doing at the moment. His heart jumped to his throat and began to beat as fast as the bass from the speakers around him. He knew he had to come through for his friend, because he knew Xander was going to come through for Natalie. He just wanted Xander to be proud of him.
“Hello, handsome.”
Kyle nearly jumped out of his skin. He hadn’t expected someone to approach him. He tried to recover quickly, but his mind was still divided.
“Hey—hey, how are you?” Kyle said to the brunette. She was tall, hair down below her shoulders, a bright-blue, tight-fitting bodycon dress, and if looks could kill, she would have been a shotgun. Normally, he would be ecstatic about her approaching him. But of course it happened when he had to stay focused. And there was no way he could stay focused if she remained standing in front of him. He needed an exit.
“I’m good. Better now,” the woman said with a coy smile, her French accent thick.
Damn it.
Kyle took a sip. “Yeah? Listen, you are beautiful, but I’m so sorry, I am here with my girlfriend.”
It was all he could come up with.
The woman squinted her eyes and gave him a suspicious look. “That’s strange, because I saw you walk in from the street and you were alone. And here you are, only buying the one drink.”
Shit.
She wasn’t going to let him walk away.
He was going to have to be a dick.
“Listen—”
“There you are, baby!” Kyle heard a woman say, then he felt an arm slip around his waist. “I was looking everywhere for you!” Then he felt a kiss on his cheek. When he looked over, he was too shocked to form words. So the woman who had just wrapped her arm around him spoke to the dark-haired woman for him. “Who’s your friend, baby?”
Before Kyle could speak, the dark-haired woman made a disgusted face, scoffed, and walked away in a fury.
Kyle turned to face the woman who had just saved him.
Adeline Williams.
All Aboard
Xander propelled his upper body up out of the water with a powerful kick of his legs, stretched his right arm as high as it would go, and wrapped his hand around the chrome guardrail. Before she could react, he snatched Sam by the back of the shirt and lifted her with his free hand until she too could reach the rail.
“Chivalry isn’t dead,” she quipped.
By the light shining on her from the top of the boat, Xander could see that her lips were blue and her face was pale. Yet her sense of humor remained. On the float to the middle of the boat, Xander had not seen anyone lurking. No shadowy figures with guns on the bow. It seemed odd. Sam pulled herself up and over the rail, then crouched down on the walkway to stay below the bottom of the window. Xander watched her do it but couldn’t hear it due to the rushing of the water and the gurgle of the engine. That was a good thing. He pulled himself up and over, and crouched beside Sam.
Over the hum of the engine that rattled at the back of the long dinner boat, Sam whispered, “You see anyone?”
“Nobody.”
Sam frowned. “I don’t like this.”
“No shit.”
She glanced up to the top of the boat. “I’m going to make my way up there as you move inside from the back. I’ll check the wheelhouse and see if there is anything suspicious. If it’s just the captain, I’ll move my way on over to the rooftop deck. We don’t want the captain to alert anyone that we are here if we don’t have to. I’ll be able to cover you from the top.”
Xander unzipped his go bag and handed Sam the SAT phone. “Take this. If something happens to me, call Sarah and get her to send a boat out here.”
“
If something happens to you, something happens to me.”
“No, Sam.” Xander took her forearm in his hand. “Not this time. If something happens to me, you have to get Natalie out of here. Promise me.”
“Xan—”
He squeezed. “Sam, I can’t have her get hurt. I can’t let something happen to her because of me.”
Xander watched Sam study his face. He could see her weighing the thought. “Fine. But, Xander?”
Xander just stared, waiting.
“This is the last time we do this to save a woman.”
Xander didn’t smile, and he didn’t make a joke. His face was dead serious. “Sam . . . this is the last time we do this, period.”
Xander let go of her arm and strapped the go bag back onto his back. As they parted ways, not another word was spoken.
Sam walked away toward the bow of the dinner boat. Xander duckwalked his way toward the stern. He stayed low in case there was an ambush waiting. He didn’t want to alert them if they hadn’t been already. Everything inside of him wanted to stand and see what he could through the window. But it was heavily tinted, and he didn’t think it worth the risk. With each step closer to the back entrance to the dining room, his burning desire to catch a glimpse of Natalie seared through his being like a terrible itch that had to be scratched.
He came to the corner of the wall of windows at the back. He paused for a moment to listen. He couldn’t hear a thing over the motor purring just below him now. He figured the boat was just about to come to the spot where Jack and Viktor were set up. It was time to make a move, but he didn’t want to go in blind. Slowly, he inched the bend in his legs straighter as he gripped the bottom of the window. What he saw through that dark, tinted window felt like someone hitting him in the stomach with a tire iron. Though it was dark and she was at the far end of the room, Xander could see the dirty-blonde curl of Natalie’s hair covering her face over the top of the restraint. Anger roared through Xander like a train through a tunnel. There she was, strapped to the wall, spears circling toward her head, just like he had seen on the live feed.
Only they were much closer now.
Xander swung the go bag around and unzipped it. He pulled out his Glock and a smoke grenade, then zipped the bag closed. He felt for the knife in his pocket. And with a deep breath he rounded the corner and bolted for the entrance.
Sam jumped and grabbed hold of the edge of the roof that covered the front of the dining room below. She did a pull-up and swung her legs around behind her so she was lying flat on the top. Several feet away, the roof ended and the wheelhouse jutted out from the top of it. She stayed on her stomach and slithered her way toward the back of it. The windows were tinted much the same there as they were below, making it nearly impossible to see inside. She was careful, because she knew it would be much easier for the captain to see out. As she came to the first window, she held her left eye as close as she could without touching the glass, then cupped her hand over her right eyebrow to block any light she could. Like looking through a darkened filter, she could see the captain on the other side of the wheelhouse, with what looked like a coffee carafe in his hand. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She didn’t know if that was good or bad. Could it be possible that the captain didn’t know what was going on inside his own boat? She supposed so, especially if he was paid not to look; anything was possible.
Sam was about to slither back from the window when she noticed what looked like a monitor glowing on the right side of the captain. It had the four-quadrant video feed, where video of various spots of the boat should be, but instead the squares were all black; only the white line that separated them was glowing. It felt to Sam like the captain of this boat had no idea what he was carrying. Money has a way of eliminating questions.
Sam backed away and took in the rest of the top of the dinner boat behind her. The captain’s view was blocked on the backside, so the rooftop deck would only be visible from the camera that she noticed on the back of the wheelhouse—the camera that was not currently broadcasting to the captain. A feeling crawled up Sam’s spine, and it wasn’t a good one. Something was off. She duckwalked along the roof and then hopped the rail onto the deck. It spanned from the middle of the boat all the way to the stern. She pulled her Glock and walked along the rail to ensure no one would be interrupting Xander.
Out of His League
Sarah and Zhanna walked around the block. The oversized nightclub and plaza encompassed the entire block and overlooked the river on the backside. The bright-green lighted roof covered the entire top of the club. It was glowing, and hideous—somewhat like a space-age, futuristic structure—but Sarah supposed it served its purpose of standing out. It matched the style of electronic music that was spilling out of the back deck of the place. When Sarah leaned over the railing, the smell of damp earth and mold greeted her. Below her there were quite a few boats tethered to a concrete walkway. Down that walkway toward the club, there was an entrance that boaters could use directly from their boats. A small dinner cruise boat looked like it had just docked, and young partiers filed out of it and headed up into the club.
“What are we looking for?” Zhanna asked Sarah.
“Anything out of place.”
“Everything is out of place. This whole club is strangest thing I have ever seen.”
Sarah couldn’t disagree with that. Most people, at least back in the States, didn’t come to a place like Wanderlust from a boat. Mostly because this club was for younger adults. And most people who owned boats were older because it took a lot of money to keep up with a boat. But it made a little more sense seeing the partiers file out of the “party boat” down below them. The river did leave Wanderlust uniquely vulnerable. If you wanted to hurt a lot of people, you wouldn’t even have to get inside the club. A boat full of explosives would do the trick.
A boat full of explosives.
Sarah pulled her earpiece out so she wouldn’t confuse Kyle, took her cell phone from her pocket and dialed Marv.
Marv answered quickly. “How’s it going out there?”
“How fast can you comb through CCTV cameras at the back of Wanderlust.”
“Uh, five minutes.”
Sarah looked up and down the row of boats below her. More intently at the few that were just under the large outdoor patio filled with people.
Sarah said, “See if you can find any boats that may have come in either looking suspicious or having suspicious individuals getting off.”
“Will do,” said Marv. “I’ll get right back to you.”
Kyle did his best to contain his look of shock when he looked over and found that the woman who had stepped in and saved him from the brunette was actually the woman he had come there to find.
What were the odds?
He took a quick breath and maintained his cool as he turned to face Adeline. He put his hands on his hips and smiled. “What makes you think I wanted to be saved?”
She mimicked his pose, placing her hands on her hips. “Please. It was written all over your face.”
“That obvious, huh?” Kyle widened his smile and extended his hand. “Kyle.”
Adeline took his hand. “Adeline. And this is my friend Karol. And yes, it was that obvious.”
Kyle started to walk away. “Well, thanks. Have a nice night.”
That wasn’t what Adeline had been expecting. She was even better looking in person. Kyle only made it a few steps away before stopping, then turning back around. “Wait, I feel like I’m missing something.”
Adeline and Karol shared a glance but said nothing.
“Someone is supposed to do something else here . . . maybe . . . buy someone a drink or something? Help me out, I’m really not good at this sort of thing.”
Adeline smiled a knowing smile. “Oh, you aren’t, are you?”
He walked back over. “I’m really not. I know you already saved my ass from certain disaster with that other woman, but I could use a little more help. Can you walk me through exac
tly what a man in my position is supposed to do when a beautiful woman does what you just did?”
“Poor, inexperienced Kyle,” Adeline said as she took him by the arm. “Sure, don’t worry your pretty little head. Karol and I can help.” She winked at Karol. “For starters, every time I have saved a guy like you in the past, the least they did was buy me a drink.”
Kyle smiled. “And the most they did?”
“Well, the night is young. So hopefully you’ll be able to tell me that yourself soon.”
“Drinks it is.”
The three of them laughed, but Kyle’s smile quickly faltered. As they turned to the bar, Kyle noticed two men over Adeline’s shoulder looking their way. It may not have registered to him at all if they hadn’t both turned away so suddenly at the exact time he had looked at them.
Khatib’s men.
They were here.
Kyle suddenly felt completely alone and entirely out of his league.
Riverboat Gamble
“You see anything, Viktor?” Jack asked. Jack had the bipod extended and resting on the metal rail as he peered through his night-vision scope. The scope gave everything a green tint. The river was a dark green, the sky a slightly lighter shade, and the boat that was approaching almost looked like an alien spaceship. “Viktor?”
Jack pulled his eye away from the sniper’s scope. Viktor was gone.
“Shit, son! This ain’t no time to be disappearin’!”
Jack swiveled his head from left to right, his vision a little distorted after peering through the green-tinted night-vision scope. He didn’t see Viktor at all. Anger moved through the old cowboy. He had been putting up with this crazy bastard for days now. Which was fine, because he did help Xander out when he needed it, and he had his own kind of charm. But when you are out in the field, you have to be able to count on someone. And right now, this was the very worst of timing to disappear. Sam’s and Xander’s lives were at stake. Finally, he noticed a tree branch jostle to his right. “Viktor! Get your sorry ass out here right now!”
King's Ransom (The Xander King Series Book 3) Page 12